Harold and Maude

I could talk for hours about “Harold and Maude”, the 1971 dark comedy about one of the most unlikely romances in cinema. It’s about embracing death to get the most out of life, and embracing life to get the most out of death. It’s about choices; living in the world prescribed for you by society, or forging your own, consequences be damned. Ultimately it’s about choosing to somersault, or to suicide. It’s one of those films you just have to see to believe, and if you haven’t watched it, you should go do so right now!
I created this piece, “Somersault Suicide”, as an exploration of those choices that Harold faces. I rarely center my figures in a composition, but for this one it seemed conceptually appropriate to highlight the two worlds he straddles as he searches for the secret to living.

“Somersault Suicide”, 2014

You can buy a print here (or a pillow if Bud Cort’s creepy visage is your idea of home decor)!

Tribe Magazine 16 Interview

The latest issue of Tribe magazine (Issue 16) features an interview with yours truly, starting on page 12. After May 28th, 2013, you may need to click this link instead.

Janet Reno’s Dance Dance Party

For Gallery 1988‘s second annual “Is This Thing On?” exhibition, they asked artists to pay tribute to long-running sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. Though I’m more a fan of the early years, I really enjoyed the more recent “Janet Reno’s Dance Party” sketch with Will Ferrell and, in one episode, the former Attorney General herself. For my contribution, I imagined their epic dance-off as a DDR-style video game.

Janet Reno’s Dance Dance Party
Giclee print on canvas  •  19.75″ x 9″  •  S/N Edition of 25

Is This Thing On #2 Too: A Tribute to SNL
March 29th–April 20th, 2013
Gallery 1988: West
7308 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90038

Sweet Relief – A Benefit for the Avelar Family

Another charity auction I currently have some work available in is “Sweet Relief”, a silent auction to raise money for the Avelar family’s medical bills for their daughter Monica. The auction will continue in person at the exhibition on October 20th, but until then you can bid online. Prints of mine available include Belmont Terrarium, Last Call, and the sold out (I kept a few copies for just such an occasion) Stapler.

8-Bit Brigade Fundraiser to Benefit Child’s Play

The nice folks over at 8-Bit Brigade are hosting their 7th Annual Fundraiser for Child’s Play. For those of you who don’t know about Child’s Play, you can read more about it here, but basically it’s an awesome organization that lets people donate video games and toys to hospitals to improve the otherwise generally unpleasant experience for the children there. You can even choose from a map which hospital to donate to and pick out various items to buy for the hospital. While I believe charity should be sacrifice, there is something extremely fun about picking out a video game system and some games and knowing how many sick kids are going to have their hospital stay exponentially improved because of it.

Anyway, back to the charity event… 8-Bit Brigade has collected a TON of donated items ranging from a collector’s edition of Skyrim to Zelda-themed jewelry to a large original painting by yours truly. The best part is, you can chip in as little as one dollar and be entered to win one of the hundreds of available prizes; for each dollar you donate you get one virtual raffle ticket. So what are you waiting for? Go donate!

Fangamer VERSUS Attractmode

If you live in Seattle, or are there now for PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) you absolutely must check out Fangamer VERSUS Attractmode tomorrow night! Video games, music and beautiful game-related artwork! What more could you ask for?
Play indie games like Super Time Force and Cumulo Nimblers, rock out to chiptune musicians, including hip hop genius Mega Ran, and feast your eyes on artwork from over 40 amazing artists, all available for purchase!
For my contribution, I created the piece below, titled “Couples Counseling”, as a commentary on the use of virtual space within the context of relationships, and how that affects and dehumanizes communication.

Couples Counseling
9.125″ x 9.125″ / Edition of 25 / Giclee print on canvas

Fangamer VERSUS Attractmode

Saturday, September 1st
7pm until 11pm

1927 Events
1927 3rd Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101

You can RSVP for the event on Facebook.

The Battle of Wits – Crazy 4 Cult NY

One of my favorite annual shows to participate in is Gallery 1988‘s Crazy 4 Cult, an exhibition of over 100 artists paying tribute to their favorite pop culture films. I’m super excited this year because they’re branching out to the east coast and holding it in New York City!

For this year I chose to illustrate one of my favorite movies of all time, The Princess Bride. One of the best scenes in the film is when Wesley confronts Vizzini after besting his “Spaniard” and his “giant”. He agrees to a “battle of wits”, and what follows in one of the most hilariously long-winded speeches in cinematic villainy.

The Battle of Wits
19.5″ x 9″
Giclee print on canvas, edition of 25

Crazy 4 Cult: New York
Opening Thursday, August 9th 6–9pm

Gallery 1988 NY Pop-Up Store
64 Gansevoort St
New York, NY 10014

Magna Arbor Vitae Deku

I don’t normally blog when I add a new item to my shop, but the demand for posters of Magna Arbor Vitae Deku were so great that I felt I could make an exception! The 15 giclee canvas prints from SUPER iam8bit are nearly sold out, so for those of you who couldn’t make it, or wanted a more affordable option, I have an open edition (no limit) poster of the piece. You can purchase it from my shop HERE!

8-Bit Champions

Tonight marks the Autumn Society’s first international exhibit! 8-Bit Champions opens tonight at La Flaq gallery in Paris, France.

Curated by Chogrin and Thomas Olivri, 8-Bit Champions pays homage to classic 8-bit video games such as Super Mario Bros and Pac-man.

My piece is called Blue is Always Stronger, and is a reference to the 8-bit Legend of Zelda games where the blue version of an enemy always dealt out, and could withstand, more damage. It’s a 9″x9″ giclee print on canvas, edition of 30.

8-Bit Champions
LA FLAQ GALLERY
36 rue Quincampoix ( 75004 )
Paris, France

Opening reception
Thursday, September 15th
7:00pm–10:oopm

The Evolutionary Biology of Hyrule

UPDATE: Posters can now be purchased here.

Well it’s been almost 3 years since LA-based production company iam8bit put on one of their legendary eponymous video game themed art shows, but the wait is almost over! SUPER iam8bit opens to the general public tomorrow night at the recently renovated iam8bit headquarters located in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.

For my contribution to the show, I created Magna Arbor Vitae Deku (traslated “The Great Deku Tree of Life”) a sprawling exploration of the evolutionary biology of the 200 most important species from the Legend of Zelda video game series. Complete with binomial Latin names (Zora Bellator and Zora Fluvialis share a common ancestor with the more peaceful species Zora Sapien, for example), the brances of the Deku tree trace the evolution of each species over millions of years. Forks in the branches indicate an extinct common ancestor of the species that follow.

Detail of some lifeforms from the cnidaria and ocularia phylums

Detail of some lifeforms from the Plantamalia phylum

Detail of some lifeforms from the Zora genus, the Blin genus, and some other amphibians and mammals

Detail of some lifeforms from the Primate order, as well as some other mammals

Detail of some lifeforms from the Draconem genus, the Dinosauria superorder, and the Aves class

All the species grouped by scientific binomials

Magna Arbor Vitae Deku will be available in a very limited edition of 15 at the SUPER iam8bit opening (#1 will be framed in a cool one-of-a-kind distressed wooden frame).

SUPER iam8bit
Opening reception August 11, 2011 7pm–11pm
2147 W. Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

http://iam8bit.com/the-art-show/